How to Nail the Interview for a Teaching Position – Nail #2: Know Your Common Core

This is the second installment of the Nailing your Teacher Interview series. The first nail – Make Building Positive Relationships – can be found here.

Again, my goal is to better prepare you for what you can expect in an interview for a teaching position.

Here is Nail #2:

Know your Common Core.

The Common Core Standards are what most of the states are using as the guide to what needs to be taught at each grade level.

There will most likely be a question about Common Core in the interview.

There are some who don’t believe Common Core is a good thing, but I like it. I especially like how the Common Core gives teachers a little more freedom with their lessons.

You can find a good reference to what Common Core is at this website.

Here are some of the good points to mention:

1. Common Core allows teachers to go more in depth with the lesson.
2. Students are asked to discover concepts on their own using collaboration and investigation.
3. Students are asked to write more, even in subjects like Math and Science.
4. Common Core allows more collaboration among the different subjects.
5. Students will have to do more than just come up with the right answer, they will have to explain how they arrived at the right answer.
6. Common Core encourages students to use their higher level thinking skills.

You don’t have to be an expert on Common Core, because to be honest, most teachers are still learning how to use it themselves. The Common Core Standards are kind of vague, and for many of us, we were used to having specific topics that we needed to cover at a particular time of the year. The transition from the old state standards has been slow.

Like I said, there will probably be at least one question about Common Core, so it’s good to be able to respond with a knowledgeable answer instead of a rambling attempt of one. We had a few of those, and they were crossed of my list right away. I would rather have a candidate who says, “I don’t know that answer, but I am willing to learn” than someone who has no clue, but tries to convince me that he/she is an expert.

So, there is Nail #2 in How to Nail Your Interview for a Teaching Position.

Know your Common Core.

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Until next time, here’s to your Success in the Classroom!

Thank you,

Sam